NSF Award
0820845
The Department of Chemistry and Physics at Texas Woman's University will acquire a circular dichroism spectrophotometer with this award from the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. Principal Investigator Sheardy will investigate the influence of sequence and environment of G-quadruplex nucleic acid secondary structures. The goals of co-PI Anderson's research are to understand the function and mechanism of human Glutathione Synthetase. The primary purpose of co-PI Britt's proposed research is to thermodynamically characterize the transition states and conformational changes of several non-denatured enzymes. <br/><br/>A circular dichroism spectrophotometer will produce spectral data that provides information on molecular structure and especially the conformations of bio-molecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, enzymes and nucleic acids. The instrument will be used in research by graduate and undergraduate students. The theory and practice of circular dichroism spectroscopy will be incorporated into the undergraduate teaching curriculum. This training will prepare students to utilize this sophisticated technique in various careers, especially in chemical, biological and health related fields.
